Trump as a repudiating president

Secret boyfriend of the pod, Tim Miller, had Ron Brownstein on the latest episode of the Bulwark Podcast, where Brownstein discussed the idea of the “repudiating President,” put forward by Stephen Skowronek. This basically says that when one party’s coalition weakens but they are able to gain one more victory, they become vulnerable to repudiation. The next President points to that party-coalition as completely failed and illegitimate. This gives the repudiating president immense power to reshape the political landscape.

Skowronek’s book, The Power Presidents Make, came out in 1993, and he cites Carter/Reagan, Hoover/Roosevelt, Buchanan/Lincoln, Quincy Adams/Jackson, and Adams/Jefferson as examples of this dynamic (the latter name being the repudiator who reshaped the nation).

Anyway, the discussion of course is how this patterns fits very well with Biden/Trump.

It’s the kind of idea that fits very well with Ezra’s overall oeuvre, even if it’s a bit depressing.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bulwark-podcast/id1447684472?i=1000684422072